Researchers incorporated circuits and sensors into a flexible “second skin.”

Researchers have succeeded in creating semiconductors with the flexibility of rubber — and embedded the circuitry into skin-like sleeves that can be slipped onto fingertips.

The circuitry was fashioned from gold and silicon mesh, one micron thick, then sliced off a solid wafer and affixed to thin, malleable plastic. One potential application is virtual-reality gloves: Wearers of these “smart fingertips” can experience artificially generated touch and texture, via electrical stimulation. But the research team, which includes engineers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University, as well as China’s Dalian University of Technology, also envision incorporating various sensors into this second skin. They foresee gloves for cardiac surgeons that take EKG readings directly from exposed heart tissue, and immediately treat damaged regions with electrical current….

Biographies

Gary Rosen is the editor of Review and the former managing editor of Commentary magazine. His articles and reviews have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. He is the author of "American Compact: James Madison and the Problem of Founding" and the editor of "The Right War? The Conservative Debate on Iraq."